The situation of the price of goods in Cambodia

Price of gasoline at a Total station in Phnom Penh (Photo: Ouk Savborey, RFA)

Thursday, April 24, 2008
By Ouk Savborey
Radio Free Asia
Translated from Khmer by Socheata

The price of foods and gasoline in Cambodia remained stable in some provinces, but it has increase in some other cities and provinces.

Ms. Chak Ieng, a pork meat seller in O’Russei market, indicated that the price of one kilo of pork meat increased to more than 20,000 riels (~$5) before the Cambodian New Year. Following the New Year celebration, the price of one kilo of pork dropped to 19,000 riels ($4.75) because the government allowed the import of live pigs, following a short import ban.

Ms. Chak Ieng indicated that the price of chicken is about the same as the price of pork, but the price of beef increased to more then 30,000 riels (~$7.50) per kilo: “It’s because Samdach Hun Sen made a lot of noise, that’s why the price is stable, otherwise, it would be just like beef also, it keeps on increasing nonstop.”

Merchants along various markets in Phnom Penh indicated that dry goods, like rice, soy beans, peanuts, mung beans, corn, lotus seeds, etc… saw their price increased to more than it was before the New Year, the exception being the dry season rice where the price of a kilo lowered from 2,500 riels to 2,200 riels ($0.63 to $0.55).

Song Kheng indicated that the price of cereal increased because of the low supply within various provinces, and the price of peanuts increased from 6,000 riels ($1.50) to 6,500 riels ($1.63).

Sinuon, a seller at the Poipet market, indicated that the price of beef and pork lowered by 10 Baths per kilo (about 1,200 riels ~$0.30): “A few days back, one kilo was 18,000 riels ($4.50), so the price was reduced by 10 Baths.”

Lok Lin, an owner of a rice mill in Thmor Puok district, indicated that the price of rice is stable: “For one bé, i.e. 50 kilos of rice, it cost 1,200 Baths (~153,500 riels or ~$38.31) … I don’t know how much it is in Khmer riels, here my prices are in Baths only.”

In Kampong Cham and Kratie provinces, local villagers claimed that the price of rice, fish, meat, vegetables did not rise after the Cambodian New Year.

Along the southwest provinces, after the New Year, the price of rice decreased, but the price of fish, meat, vegetables increased somewhat. In Phnom Penh, the price of gasoline, diesel at major gas stations, such as Caltex, Total, PTT and Sokimex, is now increased by 200 riels ($0.05) per liter.

A taxi driver from Svay Rieng province indicated that the price of gasoline in Bavet is 4,000 riels ($1.00) per liter, but it is only 3,800 riels ($0.95) only in the provincial center.

On Wednesday 02 April, Prime minister Hun Sen indicated that there are 4 problems that cause inflation: (1) the price increase of oil on the international market, (2) the lower exchange rate of the US dollars, (3) the necessity to increasing food production, and (4) the use of cereal for bio-fuel production.

Hun Sen said that his government resolved the inflation problem by increasing the salary of factory workers and civil servants, by subsidizing the price of electricity, and by the sale of rice at low cost in various markets in Phnom Penh city.

It should be noted that, after the New Year celebration, government workers in charge of low cost state rice sale, indicated that the government stopped selling this rice on the market.

Hun Sen's gov't did not do enough yet, price of goods still high

Commodities Prices Still High, Despite Anti-inflation Protest

8th April 2008
By Kim Pov Sottan
Radio Free Asia
Translated from Khmer by Khmerization
On the web at http://khmerization.blogspot.com/

Up until today there is no response from the government to opposition leader’s demand, who, a few days ago, led an anti-inflation protest to ask the government to take measures to lower the prices of goods, which have skyrocketed in the last few days.

The opposition leader, who is a former finance minister, Mr. Sam Rainsy, has blasted the government for not taking any measures to curb the price rises due to fear that any measures (to curb the rises) might affect their own interests. As a result they allowed the commodities prices to rise higher than the prices in other countries.

Mr Sam Rainsy said: “That’s why they did not want to lower the taxes, as demanded by us. We demanded that they stop imposing taxes, but they did not stop and instead they taxed more because it benefited them personally. And they provide exclusive rights of monopoly only to their cronies. They never take any actions on important issues or they just take actions lightly.”

Last Sunday, Mr. Sam Rainsy had led a peaceful protest with the participation of about 300 people to demonstrate against the high commodities prices, in particular the petrol price.

In the protest, he had set out three points for the government to tackle the commodities prices, such as cutting petrol excise and reducing the profit margins by the petrol distributing companies. Secondly, end the monopoly of any rogue traders who have continually increased the prices of goods at their own will regardless. Thirdly, properly manage the economy by stabilising the currency. Fourthly, control the printing of money and fifthly, reform land systems- that is to distribute lands to the citizens who have no land to farm.

All of Mr Sam Rainsy’s demands have been rejected by the government spokesman, who accused Mr. Sam Rainsy of raising the issues as an election campaign to win votes in the upcoming election.

Mr Khieu Kanharith, the government spokesman, claimed that the government had subsidised the fuel, had not raised any taxes, had banned the exports of rice and had resolved many land disputes, as have been seen recently.

Mr Kanharith said: “The government continues to lose taxes and for a long, long time the government dares not increase any taxes. We impose taxes in term of the weight of goods, not on the quantity of the imports. He knew what was happening around the world. The prices of rice have risen around the world so the farmers are very happy about that. So what the government needs to do is to increase the salary of the workers, imports meat, bans rice exports for 2-3 months in order to bring down the prices of rice.”

It must be noted that the World Bank’s report of late 2007 stressed that the prices of foods in Cambodia had increased by 20% and the prices of petrol had increased by 12%.

As of today, the prices of rice are stable and dropped slightly after the government took emergency actions (to curb the price rises), but the price of petrol had increased to 5,000 riels per litre (~US$1.25/litre) and there is no sign of it coming down any time soon.

It's already April 2008, and Hang Chuon Naron still talks about the 2007 inflation rate: Time to wake up!

Cambodia is still confident even though the economy growth is in decline

Wednesday, April 9, 2008
Everyday.com.kh
Translated from Khmer by Socheata

Hang Chuon Naron, the deputy secretary of state of the Ministry of Economy and Finance, claimed that even if Cambodia is affected by inflation, it will not seriously affect the population in the country at all. Hang Chuon Naron said on 08 April at the UNDP office that even if Cambodia is one of the countries affected by inflation, this does not affect the population in general, and in particular, farmers are not faced with serious problem either. He indicated that the inflation issue is not particular to Cambodia alone, but that it is an issue affecting the entire region and the entire world, in spite of the fact that inflation rate in Cambodia is lower than that in Burma, Thailand, Vietnam, and China. He indicated that in 2007, the inflation rate was only 5.8%, whereas this rate in 35% in Burma, 15% in Vietnam, 9% in China, and 6% in Thailand.

We want half PRICE not half RICE!

Families in all ASEAN nations have been hit hard by rising food prices

ASEAN leaders prepare to battle inflation

Saturday, April 5, 2008
Source: Thanh Nien News and AFP

Finance ministers from 10 Asian countries Friday vowed to be vigilant in the fight against inflation, as soaring food and fuel prices threatens to spark public unrest in some nations.

The ASEAN (Association of Southeast Asian Nations) ministers, who met in Da Nang City, were searching for ways to cope with the global economic slowdown, as well as escalating prices, which has hit households across the region hard.

ASEAN economies had been feeling the effects of the economic slowdown in the United States as well as rising international food and oil prices, Vietnamese Deputy Prime Minister Nguyen Sinh Hung said at the opening session.

“These adverse externalities have resulted in increasing inflationary pressure, hurting the region’s growth rate - and Vietnam is no exception,” Hung said.

“However, with strong determination and dynamic adjustment of each country, ASEAN is set to overcome these challenges to achieve sustainable economic growth in the medium and long-term future.”

In a statement to close the annual meeting, finance ministers said they had discussed the potential for a much longer economic slowdown than expected.

“We remain vigilant against these risks and resolved to maintain sound fiscal and monetary policies, while

continuing to implement policies that will sustain domestic demand as an important anchor of growth,” they said.

Many experts believe the region will be able to weather the turmoil better than in times past, in particular during the 1997-1998 Asian financial crisis.

World Bank managing director Juan Jose Daboub told AFP there was cause for “cautious optimism” in the region despite the possibility that slowing demand in the US will undercut a major export market for the region.

The Asian Development Bank and the World Bank this week both reduced their growth forecast for the region, excluding Japan.

The World Bank said there could be an aggregate income loss of 1 percent of gross domestic product due to price increases.

In Da Nang Friday, finance ministers discussed the progress in the implementation of the Roadmap for Monetary and Financial Integration of ASEAN, the Asian Bond Markets Initiative and the Chiang Mai Initiative, as well as the realization of the ASEAN Economic Community.

“Since the adoption of the Roadmap for Monetary and Financial Integration of ASEAN in 2003, we have strengthened regional financial resilience and enhanced our capacity to manage risks,” Vietnam’s Finance Minister Vu Van Ninh said.

“We agreed that greater financial cooperation would enhance competitiveness and equity in ASEAN,” he said.

Delegates at the meeting also talked about the rising global commodities and energy prices.

They noted the importance to strengthen the regional initiatives on food security and energy security.

ASEAN ministers committed to liberalize key financial services sectors and implement the ASEAN Economic Community (AEC) Blueprint by 2015.

Responding to media’s question about whether ASEAN needs to set up a currency for the AEC, the Malaysian Finance Minister Nor Mohamed Yakop said the main target was to create an economic community for all ASEAN members, not to focus on setting up a general currency.

“We made some progress on the Chiang Mai Initiative, which aims to create a fund to prevent economic crises from denting ASEAN and plus-three countries, including China, Korea and Japan,” Vu Van Ninh said.

“The detailed plans of the initiative will be discussed at the meeting of ASEAN leaders in Madrid in May.”

ASEAN’s members are Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam.

ASEAN+3 also includes Japan, South Korea and China.

Workers, Factories Agree to Salary Increase [-Workers still unsatisfied with the increase under the current price condition]

By Heng Reaksmey, VOA Khmer
Original report from Phnom Penh
02 April 2008

Union workers and garment factory managers agreed in principle Monday to a wage increase, averting a proposed strike at scores of factories.

Unions had threatened to strike if salaries were not increased $5, to $55 per month, in the face of rising prices, but officials said Wednesday they had agreed to a $6 per month raise.

The "allowance" would not be a raise in the minimum wage, but was an extraordinary measure given the current costs of living, officials said.

Workers and management are expected to meet Friday to officially agree to the deal.

"The salary increase to $60 per month from the government to the workers makes me very happy, although it is a small increase compared to the high prices in Cambodia," said Chea Mony, president of the Free Trade Union. "But the increase in salary will reduce the impact of the cost of living."

At least one worker, however, said the increase would be too little in the face of Cambodia's rising prices.

"I think that it's not enough to increase to salary to $6 per month, because right now we receive $50, and if we increase $6 more, this is a small amount," said Man Channa, a garment worker at the PCCS factory. "We cannot compare this with the high prices in Cambodia, and our living conditions still have problems, with water, house fees and food."

NRP sees demagogy everywhere: Demonstration against price increase is demagogy, Effort to increase workers’ salary is demagogy

Wednesday, April 2, 2008
Everyday.com.kh
Translated from Khmer by Socheata

While the SRP is calling on all the Cambodian people to join a mass demonstration it is organizing to demand the lowering of the price of goods, the NRP, the SRP bitter opponent, reacted by opposing this plan to hold a demonstration. Muth Chantha, NRP spokesman, told The Mekong Times that a demonstration cannot resolve the increasing price of goods, and that it is merely a people demagogy, similarly, the NRP also accuses the government effort to raise the workers salary as demagogy. Muth Chantha said that even though holding a demonstration is the people’s right, his party is concerned that (police) attack against the demonstrators may occur. He said: “What the NRP is concerned about are the security and the safety of the people participating in that demonstration. Politicians should not lead people to their death or arrest for political gain while the people are facing with danger.” He said that the way to resolve this issue is to discuss with the government to find a common solution.

Political Cartoon: Food Power?

Cartoon by Sacrava (on the web at http://sacrava.blogspot.com)

Mu Sochua: In "trying to point figures at others," the government simply shows it lacks responsibility and competence in tackling the problems

Cambodia Moves to Curb Rice Price Hikes

Thursday March
By Ker Munthit
Associated Press Writer

Cambodia Takes Steps to Curb Soaring Rice and Food Prices

PHNOM PENH, Cambodia (AP) -- Cambodia's government appealed for calm Thursday as it rushed out a series of economic measures to address soaring food prices.

The measures -- announced in three separate statements Wednesday evening -- came one day after Prime Minister Hun Sen ordered a ban on rice exports to neighboring Thailand and Vietnam in a bid to bring down domestic prices of the staple.

The price of low-grade rice in Phnom Penh's markets has risen to about 2,000 riel (50 cents) per kilogram from 1,300 riel (30 cents) about three months ago.

Finance Minister Keat Chhon appealed for the Cambodian people "to remain calm ... and not to stock up on food commodities, which could make the situation even harder."

In addition to the rice export ban, the government said it would release surplus rice from its reserves to help bring down prices. Authorities also said they would impose measures to stop illegal stockpiling and implement a better distribution system to get rice to areas with shortages.

The measures also cited higher prices for other foods, but gave few specifics. The price of many foods have been gradually rising for months, partly due to higher fuel costs.

Although it is part of a global problem, the current price situation "is affecting the daily livelihoods of our citizens," Hun Sen said in a letter to his finance and commerce ministers that was released Thursday.

Hun Sen asked that finance and commerce ministers start discussions with garment factory operators on ways to raise wages "in order to increase productivity of the factories" and address the imbalance between workers' incomes and market prices for essential goods.

The garment industry is the major export earnings sector in Cambodia, where some 35 percent of the country's 14 million people live on less than 50 cents a day. The industry employs about 355,000 workers, mostly women.

Many members of the Cambodian Free Trade Union, one of several representing garment workers, had originally planned to stage a strike this week to demand a wage increase, said Srei Seiha, a spokesman for the group.

He said the group has now postponed the planned strike pending negotiations with the Garment Manufacturers Association of Cambodia to have the workers' basic wage elevated to $55 from $50 a month.

"The current wage cannot keep up with the prices on the market," he said.

The president of the manufacturers association, Van Sou Ieng, could not be reached for comment Thursday.

Commerce Minister Cham Prasidh blamed the situation on "opportunists" trying to make political gains ahead of a July general election.

In "trying to point figures at others," the government simply shows it lacks responsibility and competence in tackling the problems, said Mu Sochua, deputy secretary-general of Cambodia's main opposition group, the Sam Rainsy Party.

Cambodia rushes to calm food price fears [-Keat Chhon: "Bad people are hyping up the situation for their own interests"]

Agence France-Presse

PHNOM PENH - Cambodia Thursday rushed to calm fears over spiraling food costs, as it pushed out a series of measures meant to halt price hikes as thousands of factory workers facing hunger threatened to strike for higher wages.

A lifting of the ban on imported pigs and pork products was announced earlier in the day, following moves Wednesday to bring down the cost of rice by banning exports of the staple and prevent people from stockpiling other foods.

Finance Minister Keat Chhon, in a statement released Thursday, appealed for people "to remain calm ... and not to stock up on foods, which could make the situation even harder."

The price of meat and other goods has risen by as much as 40 percent over the past year on the back of near 11 percent inflation, with rice -- Cambodia's most important staple -- now costing nearly one dollar a kilogram.

Since Wednesday, the government has released surplus rice onto the market, allowing people to buy five kilograms each at reduced prices.

While rising food prices are part of a global trend, they have hit especially hard in Cambodia, where more than a third of the country's 14 million people are mired in poverty.

Prime Minister Hun Sen asked the country's finance and commerce ministries to address "the abnormal increase of price of goods," saying rising costs are "affecting the daily livelihoods of our citizens, especially workers, farmers and civil servants."

The measures come as thousands of garment workers threaten to strike if the industry's monthly 50 dollar minimum wage is not raised by five dollars.

Garment manufacturers narrowly prevented a walkout in 50 factories Thursday morning by agreeing to talks between factory owners and workers.

While Chea Mony, head of Cambodia largest workers' group the Cambodian Free Trade Union, described this as a "positive" step, he said a strike would be called next week if negotiations failed.

"We have postponed the planned strike at the request of the manufacturers," he told AFP, but added: "The workers' current wages cannot keep up with inflation."

The garment sector is Cambodia's largest industrial employer, putting to work as many as 350,000 people, mostly young women supporting poor families in the countryside, where many live on less than 50 cents a day.

Aid agencies have warned that Cambodia's growing food crisis could threaten tens of thousands of rural Cambodians with hunger in the coming year, as even food handouts have become significantly more expensive and harder to distribute.

Faced with this recent rising tide of anger, government officials have blamed the staggering cost hikes on "opportunists" seeking to gouge prices or gain political capital ahead of national elections, now expected to be held in July.

"Bad people are hyping up the situation for their own interests," Keat Chhon said.

Cambodia lifts ban on importing pigs, pork to curb soaring food prices

PHNOM PENH, March 27 (Xinhua) -- Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen claimed Thursday that the government allows importing pigs and pork products from neighboring countries as the food prices increasing sharply.

The pig diseases in neighboring countries were over according to a report of the Cambodian veterinarian department, so the government lifted the ban on importing pigs and pork products from neighboring countries, Hun Sen said during a pagoda inauguration ceremony in Kompong Cham province.

Lacking of pork products on local markets also caused the soaring up of beef and fish prices, he said.

Hun Sen also appealed to fish lot owners to release their fish products to markets to drop the fish price.

Meanwhile, Cambodian Finance Minister Keat Chhon, in a statement released on Thursday, appealed to people to remain calm and not to stock up on foods, which could make the situation even harder.

According to the statement, Hun Sen has asked the finance and commerce ministries to address "the abnormal increase of price of goods," saying rising costs are "affecting the daily livelihoods of our citizens, especially workers, farmers and civil servants."

Since Wednesday, the Cambodian government has released surplus rice into the markets, allowing people to buy five kilograms each at reduced prices.

While rising food prices are part of a global trend, they have hit especially hard in Cambodia, where more than a third of the country's 14 million people are mired in poverty.

Economic police check price of goods

Thursday, March 27, 2008
Everyday.com.kh
Translated from Khmer by Socheata

The economic police descended on various markets in Phnom Penh, on Wednesday, to check the price of goods that are increasing in the past few days. The Koh Santepheap newspaper reported that the joint police force led by Lieutenant-Colonel Long Sreng, administrative director of the anti-economic crime police, descended on the O’Russei market first to ask rice sellers and meat sellers, then they went on to the Toan Samai cooking gas store located west of the Phsar Thmei market. After checking on the price of meat and gas on Wednesday morning, Long Sreng said that these goods indeed saw a price increase. Long Sreng said that the cause for the price increase of pork stems from the fact that pig farmers stop raising pigs because the price of pig feeds has increased so much that they no longer make any profit when they sell their pigs. The price of beef increased because the number of animals slaughtered is too small and there is not enough to supply the demand. Regarding the price of cooking gas, it stems from a rise in the price of gas on the world market, therefore some companies suspend their import for a while, because of this, the stock of gas was depleted and the price increased.